Meizhou Island Folk Activity Guide
01 Mazu Temple Fair Every year to commemorate the birthday of Mazu, the board of directors of Meizhou Mazu Temple held a Meizhou Mazu Temple Fair in the temple area from the 21st to the 23rd day of the third lunar month, which lasts for 3 days. The content of the event: First, hold a "opening" ceremony, raise the peace lamp, hang the Mazu flag, and invite well-known people to "open the gong"; Second, hold a banquet table display and display it in various halls and pavilions of the ancestral temple; Third, hold a symposium to commemorate the anniversary of Mazu's birth, and invite representatives of Mazu Temple in the world, representatives of Mazu believers at home and abroad, and meritorious masters to attend the symposium to commemorate the birthday of Mazu, and discuss and promote the great cause of Mazu culture; Fourth, hold a performance in Putian Folk Art Square. The temple area arranges Putian opera, puppet show, stilt-strolling, dragon and lion dance and other folk art teams to perform square performances; fifth, hold activities such as Mazu culture theme film exhibition, chime exhibition, theme art evening party, and Mazu sacrificial ceremony.
02Spring and Autumn Festival is mainly commemorating the birthday of Mazu on the 23rd day of the third lunar month and the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. This is a conventional Spring and Autumn Festival 2. The 23rd day of the third lunar month is the birthday of Mazu, and people commonly call it "Mazu birth". The celebration of "Mazu Sheng" is the most lively, and its solemnity is even higher than that of the Spring Festival. In order to put in "Taozhixiang" at midnight on March 23, good men and women went to Meizhou Island in advance. Some were on Zumiao Mountain or in Mazu's bedroom. Before the birthday of Mazu and the anniversary of the ascension, after the date of the Jingyao Cup of Mazu Temple in Meizhou was determined, a woman with both good fortune and longevity was asked to bathe and change her clothes for Mazu's golden body. The Mazu anniversary is coordinated by the Fushou of each palace, and the deputy Fushou of each palace is responsible for the deacon. The celebration will start from the fifth day of the March to the 23rd. On the 23rd, the ancestral temple officially held a celebration. From the 22nd night, guns and cannons were fired first, and then ceremonies were held, and eight music and act as usual. The commemoration of Mazu's Ascension to Heaven on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month is because it is the death day. The characteristics of the commemoration are to abstain from meat. If you don't have five animals for offerings, you will use vegetarian food. You can eat three fasts and six precepts in the ancestral temple. Around Mazu's birthday and Ascension Day, Mazu's world's Mazu divided the spiritual temple and Mazu believers came to incense for more than a month.
03Mazu Ceremony is known as the three major Chinese festivals, together with Shaanxi sacrifice to Huangdi and Shandong sacrifice to Confucius. The earliest large-scale Mazu ceremony was to be recommended for the Mazu ceremony in the 26th year of Shaoxing, Southern Song Dynasty. After that, there were Mazu ceremony in officials and folk in all dynasties. In 1994, the board of directors of Mazu Temple in Meizhou invited experts to organize and restore the Mazu ceremony based on the sacrificial rituals recorded in classics and folk customs in Meizhou. The festival is characterized by the highest standard literary dance characterized by Shaozhuo sacrifice, the music of the palace strings, the dance of the eight ceremonies, the ceremony of the three offerings, and the dance of the three kneelings and nine kowtows. The music and dance of the festival centers around the three offerings and are divided into five movements: "Welcome the God", "First offering", "Asian offering", "The End offering", and "Sending the God". The three offerings are called "Haiping", "Peace" and "Xianping", which are sung by men and women, and music students accompanied them. The festival includes three types of festivals: small, medium and large. They are held during major festivals and major receptions as needed, and are very popular among tourists.
04Mazu Lantern Festival Mazu Lantern Festival Festival, people invite Mazu to celebrate the Lantern Festival. In addition to the ancestral temples in Meizhou, there are 14 spirit temples worshipping Mazu in the entire area. The Lantern Festival celebrations on the island start from the eighth day of the first lunar month to the eighteenth day of the first lunar month. Before the Lantern Festival, each palace organized Mazu to divide the statue of the spirit god to go to the ancestral temple to invite incense. The guard of honor for followers included flags, headlights, clear roads, etc. The incense invitation activity was hosted by Fushou of each palace, and assisted by the deputy Fushou and the headman of each village. Among them, only Shanglin Palace and Shangying Palace (formerly known as Houlin Palace) can go to the ancestral temple to invite Mazu Golden Body to our palace to celebrate the Lantern Festival, and share the statue of Mazu's god from house to house to worship. After returning to the palace after the incense ceremony was held in the other spiritual palaces, all the good men and women in the palace area would pay tribute to the palace to worship. Afterwards, teams of the same specifications as those of the ancestral temples will be organized to travel around the area under the jurisdiction of our palace. When Mazu's golden body or the divine spirit of Mazu's statue travel lanterns are returned to various palaces, activities such as "brown sedan chair", "sword sedan chair" and entertainment performances are usually held. The scene is spectacular and lively.
05 Prayer ceremony Every year from the first day of the first lunar month to the third day of the lunar calendar, the Mazu Temple in Meizhou holds a prayer ceremony.Good men and women lit the incense of blessing after bathing their hands, washing and changing clothes, and bowed and knelt down many times with the chanting group, praying for Mazu to bless the good weather, the country and the people, the prosperity of all industries, the victory of everything, the peace of the family, and the health and longevity of life.
06 Praying and reciting sutras Reciting the "Sutra of the Holy Mother in Heaven" has become an important part of the ritual of worshiping Mazu. The chanting and worship consists of 13 or 15 female chanting students, including chanting rituals such as setting a firm, taking a seat, kneeling, burning incense, chanting scriptures, walking on the scene, offering, burning silk, completing rituals, and returning to the position. The chanting ceremony of scriptures is held in the main hall of the ancestral temple and the Queen's Hall on the first, fifteenth day of the lunar calendar every month and Saturday and Sunday, attracting pilgrims to stop and watch and participate.
07 Decorate "Zhushan" On the evening of the Lantern Festival, whether it is a big palace or a small temple, it must decorate "Zhushan". The so-called "Zhushan" means that in front of the palace and temple square of Tianhou Palace, iron or wood are used to make racks of varying heights, and bamboo clips are installed at a certain distance to allow candles to be inserted. That night, the believers each presented a pair of dragon and phoenix candles, lit them and inserted them, so it looked like a candle mountain from afar, symbolizing Mazu showing his divine light on the sea. Afterwards, believers remember the position of ignition by themselves. When the dragon candle is burned to one or two inches, extinguish the fire and take it home to continue ignite it to show that the auspicious signs are coming and peace will be safe all year round. In order to satisfy the pilgrims' wish to pray for peace, there are now some pavilions for lit "Canda Mountain" for pilgrims to light candles to fulfill their wishes.
08 Worship Ceremony Worship Ceremony is organized by the ancestral temple and is held with the help of one, one, one, two Si Lisheng, one, and two Si Lisheng. ⑴ Medium-sized worship shall be carried out by the board of directors of the ancestral temple in accordance with the ceremony of small worship and part of the chanting of scriptures, and the duration is half an hour. The ceremony is: ① Bells and drums are whistling together (a total of eight rings and sixteen beats of drums); ② Roaring cannons, chanting sutras and worshiping people in their seats; ③ Burning incense; ④ Carrying three bows; ⑤ Carrying sutras (reciting "The Praise of the Holy Mother" on Saturdays and Sundays, and reciting "The True Sutra of the Holy Mother in Heaven" on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, the length of time has increased to more than one hour); ⑥ Reading the blessing text; ⑦ collecting incense; ⑧ Carrying the three offerings (dedicating flowers, offering fruits, and offering silk); ⑨ Carrying the three kneeling and nine kowtows; ⑩ Burning the blessing text and burning silk; ① Completed rituals. ⑵ Small worship, compared with medium worship, there is only one less scripture chanting procedure, the others are the same as small worship rituals, and the duration is 15 minutes. The leader of the incense group is the main priest, and other members accompany the priests.
09Separate spirit and fire After the Mazu's faithful men and women from all over the world arrive at the Mazu Temple in Meizhou, they first bow to Mazu Jin, and then pray to Mazu Jin, and then select a suitable consecrated statue of Mazu God, and take out a little incense ash from the Heavenly Holy Mother's furnace and invite them to return to their residence to establish a temple for worship. At the right time, take this statue of Mazu with good men and women to the Mazu Temple in Meizhou to cut fire and incense, which is commonly known as "returning to the mother's home".
10 Ask for incense and cut fire is a ceremony for Mazu deacons from other places to go to Meizhou ancestral temple to ask for incense and cut fire, so it is called "distraction". Usually when there are celebrations or festivals in Mazu Temples in other places, devout believers come to Meizhou Ancestral Temple with incense burners, regardless of distance, to take incense ash and cut the holy fire. Mazu invites her to visit Mazu Palace in the place to enjoy and bless her. If there is any activity in the future, I will still perform this incense ceremony again. Therefore, the matter of distraction is often dozens of times in Meizhou ancestral temples, especially on the 23rd of March every year, it is prosperous.
11yao Cup Ask Bu After going to the Mazu Temple in Meizhou to burn incense and kneel down and worship, he silently reported to Mazu the address, name, and request matters of the person who asked the person. He picked up a pair of moon-shaped "Bu Cups" and threw it on the ground three times in a row. According to the arrangement of the front and back of the "Bu Cups" in sequence, he determined the number of poems given by Mazu to sign, and obtained the result of the request matters from the explanation of the poems.
12Around the country parade This is an activity ceremony for praying for Mazu's safety in the entire Meizhou area. The purpose is to invite Mazu to tour the entire area, sweep away the demonic atmosphere, and protect the safety and peace of the people in the entire area. During the trip, Mazu, the 15th palace in Meizhou, went to the ancestral temple to join forces, and Mazu (called Grandma) of the same ancestral temple were carried out for a cruise, and it was stipulated that they would stay at Xiashan Palace for one day. After traveling, the "Bu Cup" decided the time for Mazu to return to the ancestral temple. After sending Mazu's Holy Vehicle back to the palace, Mazu returned to the palace one after another.The bedrooms of Mazu Temple in Meizhou are all placed with rice in small bags, with the words "Ping An Rice" written on it. Peaceful rice is freely selected and brought back by pilgrims and tourists. Add it when cooking at home, so that Mazu's kindness can benefit the whole family, so as to pray for the safety and health of the whole family. In addition, the Ten Music is commonly known as "Ta Shiban". The band consists of wind instruments, string instruments and percussion instruments, as well as performing Putian Opera, originally named "Xinghua Opera", and is sung in dialect. It combines the artistic characteristics of Putian's folk songs, Ten Music, Buddhist Music, Song and Yuan lyrics and music, and Daqu Song and Dance. It has a strong local color. Every time Mazu's major festivals or the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, tourists can feel the unique charm of these rural customs when they walk in the Zu Temple scenic area.
